At the embassy, you will have to fill up the Visa application form. Along with the filled up form, you will be required to submit one recent passport sized photograph, a self-addressed envelope and your original passport. Besides submitting these documents, you will also have to pay the Visa fees. The fees can be paid in favor of the Embassy of Vietnam by way of money order or cashier’s check. Your form will then be forwarded ahead for processing.
The embassy will take at least five working days to process your documents. Once your documents are processed, you will be issued a fully stamped Visa. The greatest benefit of applying for Visa online is that you can get hold of a fully stamped Visa in your hands before leaving for Vietnam. However, this process is quite time consuming and expensive.
In case you decide to apply for Visa through correspondence, you will have to send in all your documents to the embassy through postal mail. This is highly risky as you could lose all your documents if your package is misplaced or lost in transit.
Hence, the easiest and fastest way for citizens of Costa Rica to apply for Visa is through Visa on Arrival. In order to apply for Visa on Arrival, you will have to get in touch with a travel agent based in Vietnam. You will be required to fill up an online application form with details such as your name, occupation, purpose of visit, duration of stay etc. When filling up the purpose of visit section, you will have to choose from options such as business, tourist and transit. A business Visa comes with a validity of one month, three months and six months. A tourist Visa comes with a validity of one month and transit Visa comes with a validity of one month.
Your online application will be processed in a couple of days, after which you will be issued a letter of approval. This letter of approval can be collected by your travel agent on your behalf and he can forward it to you. On reaching Vietnam, you will have to submit this letter of approval at the Visa on Arrival counter of the airport you arrive in. You will also have to pay the Visa stamping fees at the counter.